Generally, for adapting to AC cables with different specifications and sizes in various countries, an adapter usually includes an AC connector for electrically connecting with the AC cables.
Traditionally, an AC connector is positioned on a circuit board inside an adapter in a plugging manner. Please refer to FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), which are schematic views showing a conventional AC connector. The conventional AC connector 10 mainly includes an isolation main body 101 having a through hole 102 formed therein, and the through hole 102 further includes a first conducting terminal 103 and a second conducting terminal 104 mounted thereinside, wherein the first conducting terminal 103 and the second conducting terminal 104 pass through openings (not shown) located at the rear of the main body 101 and are connected to a first pin 105 and a second pin 106 respectively by a welding or riveting manner. Moreover, a supporting rod with a protruding structure 107 is further mounted at the bottom of the main body 101 of the AC connector 10. Thus, through engaging the protruding structure 107 of the supporting rod with the plugging holes 111 and 112 on the circuit board 11 disposed inside the adapter, the AC connector 10 can be fixed on the circuit board 11. Besides, the first pin 105 and the second pin 106 can extend downwardly to be plugged into pin holes 113 and 114 on the circuit board 11 and then welded on the circuit board 11, so that the AC power received by the first conducting terminal 103 and the second conducting terminal 104 can be conducted to the circuit board 11.
However, the AC connector described above actually has some unavoidable defects. First of all, because the first pin and the second pin are downwardly extended into the pin holes on the circuit board, the distance between the two pin holes should be matched with that between the first and the second pins, and it is therefore disadvantageous for the AC connector to be applied to other circuit boards with different standards. Furthermore, because the first and the second pins are made of metal material and must be perpendicularly and directly plugged into the circuit board as assembling and then welded on the circuit board, the first and the second pins are actually inflexible. Therefore, they cannot eliminate the heat stress produced by electronic elements on the circuit board as being operated, so that the welding material at the weld point comes off easily.
Hence, a design that connects the AC connector and the circuit board inside the electronic device through a connecting wire is developed. Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic view showing an AC connector in the market. As shown in FIG. 2, the AC connector 20 at least includes an isolation main body 201, a first conducting terminal 203, a second conducting terminal 204, a first conducting piece (not shown), and a second conducting piece 205, wherein a through hole 202 is formed in the main body 201 and the first conducting terminal 203 and the second conducting terminal 204 are disposed thereinside. The first conducting terminal 203 and the second conducting terminal 204 pass through openings (not shown) at the rear of the main body 201 and are connected to the first conducting piece (not shown) and the second conducting piece 205 respectively by welding or riveting. Through a connecting wire 206 connecting the conducting piece 205 and the circuit board inside the electronic-device (not shown), the AC connector 20 is electrically conducted with the electronic device (not shown). However, although many defects existed in the conventional AC connector can be solved by means of the connecting wire used in this design and the AC connector can thus be applied to all kinds of circuit boards, an additional welding or riveting step must be performed during the assembling procedure since the conducting terminal and the conducting piece must be connected in a welding or riveting manner. Besides, because the volumes of the conducting terminals and the conducting pieces are all small, the direct welding or riveting at the rear of the AC connector may cause the isolation main body, which is almost made of plastic material, melted owing to the high temperature.
Consequently, how to improve the whole structure of the AC connector for avoiding the defects described above and further reducing the manufacturing cost has become a challenge for the manufacturer.